Aston Villa Support Census

[NeilS]

I have no family connection to Birmingham or to Aston Villa. My Dad was born and grew up in Dorset and then moved to the Guildford area, during that time he used to go to a variety of football grounds to watch matches in his younger days collecting autographs. He recently gave me his old book with signed pictures from the likes of Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore and may others from those days, I did notice one of a young Ron Saunders in there as my Dad used to go to Pompey quite a bit in those days (Maybe that is the link?). He then moved up to Northamptonshire with my Mum not long after they married as they couldn't afford a house down in Guildford at the time. He started off by going to matches at Leicester, Coventry and then finally Villa just before the title season. He said once he had been to Villa Park he was hooked.

I started going up to Villa in the 1982/1983 season, and my first match was watching us demolish Watford although I am not sure whether it was the cup or the league match, I would need to ask my Dad that. All I remember is thatTony Morley was my first Villa hero after that match, I just remember the excitement when he was running with the ball down the wing and I have been hooked on Villa ever since. I was a season ticket holder for many years and a Villa Cub member which led to me being a match day mascot at the end of April 1986 against Chelsea. We won 3-1 that day to avoid relegation that season.That was unfortunately short lived though as the following season was a total disaster and we were well and truely deserving of relegation after the Turner/McNeill years. I thought that awful season would be hard to beat until the dreaded Sherwood/Garde/Black season. Thankfully we have Unai now, who is easily the best manager we have had in my living memory.

My parents still live in the same village in Northamptonshire, and I now live in Market Harborough on the Northamptonshire/Leicestershire border. So I now live amongst the Foxes, although I do know a couple of families who live nearby to me who are staunch Villa Fans, and I do see a few Villa tops around the area so we are not under represented in these parts. My Dad is now 78 years old, and we still get up to a few matches as Claret Members rather than Season Ticket holders. We have booked the three Europa Conference group matches and have been to the 4-0 Everton match so far this season. We are looking to get to as many matches as we can this season as when the North Stand is demolished and rebuilt I imagine it will be near on impossible to get tickets to matches, and by the time it will be completed my Dad will be in his early 80's. Hopefully we will both be back when it is complete and tickets become easier to obtain again.

 

 

[Rugeley Villa]

28 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

Yep, it is often said (not sure if entirely true) that the Birmingham St Patrick's day parade is the 3rd largest in the world and yet is barely spoken outside of Digbeth. Birmingham never bigs itself up, unlike London or Manchester.

Always been the same, Birmingham just isn’t a fashionable city compared to Manchester Liverpool London etc. Those cities seem to have more identity or should I say a more brash identity. The city has come a long way but it just never got the hype . The football clubs are a good representation of the city I think and even the music scene. Compare that to Liverpool and Manchester and you see what I mean . Anyway gone a bit off topic here. 
 

I swear we’ve got one or two scousers that post on here now and again who are Villa fans and I think we have one or two Geordies too, one that doesn’t post now. 

[Rugeley Villa]

I do notice a few southern accents at our home games and last year I ended up having a drink with father and son who had came  down from Glasgow to watch us who had supported Villa all their lives. 

Edited November 15, 2023 by Rugeley Villa

[trevor]

Channel Islands, managed to get over 3 times so far this season.

[TomC]

On 12/11/2023 at 04:59, Rugeley Villa said:

Currently the biggest percentage is fans  outside the midlands. Hopefully more will post up. 

This doesn't surprise me. We hang out on VT because we don't have many other Villans around to talk with.

 

[TomC]

Born in the States, no connection to Brum...Villa by choice.

I refereed basketball games in college (sorry, at university). When they had a shortage of soccer (sorry) referees in the spring, I got suckered into doing it even though I knew very little about the game.

Eventually, I started watching professional matches so I could learn the game better and improve my refereeing. The year was 1992-93, the first year of the Premier League, and they had just started showing matches over here...back then, it was just one match per week, plus highlights from the others.

Villa were in the title race that year, so they showed Villa quite often. I loved that team's attacking style...Saunders, Atkinson, Dailey, Parker. Admittedly, it took me a little while to appreciate good defending and Paul McGrath, but eventually, he became a favorite too. It probably helped that I'm from Detroit which, like Brum, is historically an industrial-heavy town that often doesn't get the respect it deserves. I think that I identified with that.

I've been loyal ever since, through two cup wins and relegation. I've seen Villa play over here, but never at Villa Park. I'm planning on finally making the pilgrimage in April.

 

[one_ian_taylor]

I wonder  how reflective of Villa supporters as a whole  VT is though? Part of my reason for joining VT was to procrastinate instead of writing my MSc dissertation- I mean keep up with Villa news from afar.  

VT is a great  place for Villa news analysis and finding out what's  going on if you can't  get to games (though tbh even though I'm back in Brum I still can't get to many games), so is the site it likely to attract  people who live further away? 

I'd imagine it's  also a more middle aged and more male demographic than Villa support as a whole, so not necessarily that representative 

[Rugeley Villa]

Yeah fan forums are great for people who live a long distance away, it helps them feel more connected I suppose. 

[sharkyvilla]

40 minutes ago, Rugeley Villa said:

Yeah fan forums are great for people who live a long distance away, it helps them feel more connected I suppose. 

Definitely, I live in Horsham in West Sussex and have only known 3 other Villa fans, none of whom I've seen in about 20 years, so VT is essential for me.  One thing I noticed is there is often a different perspective from people who live far away and those who live locally and more likely to invest more in going to games, there is so much more passionate reaction to things, whether it's results, performances, managers and especially rivalries from fans local to Brum (which is logical, I suppose).

[FLVillan]

On 15/11/2023 at 08:58, Chindie said:

In fairness there's a deeply underappreciated Irish connection to Birmingham that goes back to the city's boom. You don't hear about it much, it's not a big part of the city's wider image like it is for Liverpool, but there's a big Irish and Irish linked community in Birmingham and has been for a very long time. I've always felt that, while obviously we did have the period of big Irish players being key to some very good squads in the 90s, there's also a deeper root to that connection with Ireland that has more to do with the city's nature.

I went to St Peter's catholic school in Solihull (I was the best footballer until bleedin' Grealish came along....  ) I always joked that there were 800 kids at the school and 799 were Irish or of Irish descent.  I was the outlier....(my great-grandad escaped Lithuania before the Ruskies took hold).  That 1994 World Cup Irish squad was brilliant for Villa fans.... 

[ThunderPower_14]

6 hours ago, Rugeley Villa said:

Yeah fan forums are great for people who live a long distance away, it helps them feel more connected I suppose. 

This place is wonderful, it allows me to engage on such a deeper level as a Villa fan despite living in Australia and having never been to England. It's hard to put into words how much this forum and the wonderful people here have been able to open my eyes to Villa and the game in general.

My Grandparents were Brummies, moving over to Adelaide when my dad was 4. I found out when my Grandad died in 1996 that he was an Aston Villa fan, having just started to play under 8s football myself, and from then on that was my team. I still get a pang of nostalgia hearing the accent of the local lads when they're interviewed, sounds exactly like my Grandparents.

[FLVillan]

On 15/11/2023 at 11:01, Rugeley Villa said:

Always been the same, Birmingham just isn’t a fashionable city compared to Manchester Liverpool London etc. Those cities seem to have more identity or should I say a more brash identity. The city has come a long way but it just never got the hype . The football clubs are a good representation of the city I think and even the music scene. Compare that to Liverpool and Manchester and you see what I mean . Anyway gone a bit off topic here. 
 

I swear we’ve got one or two scousers that post on here now and again who are Villa fans and I think we have one or two Geordies too, one that doesn’t post now. 

Whenever I get blank looks from Americans about the City of Birmingham, I ask them two questions: 1. Have you heard of the industrial revolution?  2. Which city in Europe has the most miles of canal? 

[Rugeley Villa]

3 hours ago, ThunderPower_14 said:

This place is wonderful, it allows me to engage on such a deeper level as a Villa fan despite living in Australia and having never been to England. It's hard to put into words how much this forum and the wonderful people here have been able to open my eyes to Villa and the game in general.

My Grandparents were Brummies, moving over to Adelaide when my dad was 4. I found out when my Grandad died in 1996 that he was an Aston Villa fan, having just started to play under 8s football myself, and from then on that was my team. I still get a pang of nostalgia hearing the accent of the local lads when they're interviewed, sounds exactly like my Grandparents.

Great post 

[Rugeley Villa]

3 hours ago, FLVillan said:

Whenever I get blank looks from Americans about the City of Birmingham, I ask them two questions: 1. Have you heard of the industrial revolution?  2. Which city in Europe has the most miles of canal? 

The spiritual home of heavy metal too, wether that’s a good or bad thing for some .

[alreadyexists]

My dad grew up in acocks green but moved to Tamworth with my mum and that’s where I grew up. I live in Warwick now because I’m super fancy and that

[The Fun Factory]

13 hours ago, one_ian_taylor said:

I wonder  how reflective of Villa supporters as a whole  VT is though? Part of my reason for joining VT was to procrastinate instead of writing my MSc dissertation- I mean keep up with Villa news from afar.  

VT is a great  place for Villa news analysis and finding out what's  going on if you can't  get to games (though tbh even though I'm back in Brum I still can't get to many games), so is the site it likely to attract  people who live further away? 

I'd imagine it's  also a more middle aged and more male demographic than Villa support as a whole, so not necessarily that representative 

The average premier league season ticket holder is well over 40 now,, and probably male-dominated. I do wonder if in 20 years' time the demand for match day attendance will be the same.

[AstonMartyn88]

Born in Sutton, moved to Aylesbury for work. This place is shockingly connected meaning that midweek games are no go’s and Saturday games are a logistical operation

[FLVillan]

18 hours ago, Rugeley Villa said:

Yeah fan forums are great for people who live a long distance away, it helps them feel more connected I suppose. 

These forums are my best connection to the club, to the normal fans.  People ask me all the time if I miss living in England and my response is "only family and going down the Villa."  I don't have much involvement on social media, too much nonsense and drama for me, but with a few exceptions these forums are just normal fans giving opinions and having some banter.  Sort of reminds me of the walk back to the car after a match, listening to all the other fans around me as we made our way up the grassy hill past Aston Hall.  And you're so engrossed in your conversation/rant/celebration that you slip on the wet grass and fall in to a pile of dog sh*t. 

[TomC]

11 hours ago, FLVillan said:

Whenever I get blank looks from Americans about the City of Birmingham, I ask them two questions: 1. Have you heard of the industrial revolution?  2. Which city in Europe has the most miles of canal? 

To most Americans, Birmingham is a city in Alabama. Or, if you're in Detroit, it's a posh suburb north of town.

 

[wedge]

Born in Sutton Coldfield (Good Hope Hospital), parents (lifelong Villa fan Dad from Northfield, South Brum/Mom from Lichfield but both lived in Burntwood, Aston, Great Barr and Four Oaks before I was born) moved us to a small village between Cannock and Lichfield called Cannock Wood when I was 4/5, lived there until they moved to Lichfield when I was in my second of three years at university in Southampton and for the last eight years after graduating after a few months back with Mom and Dad in Lichfield I have lived in Wiltshire near to Swindon thanks to my partner (now fiancée) whom I met in year one at uni as it's where she grew up!

Wherever I've been and wherever I go in the future, Aston Villa Football Club will always be with me. Stand-out 'glutton for punishment' moments include spunking most of my student loan payment to pay to fly from Southampton airport to Leeds/Bradford to witness us get panned by League Two Bradford City in the semi-final first leg of the League Cup under Paul Lambert and holding the proud record of attending -  by hook or by crook - every league game home and away of the (shudders) Alex McLeish tenure of doom.